TechNet Top Questions - April 29, 2000
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Need an Easier Way to Create those Users
A Question results in Only More Questions – VPN Name Resolution Problems
Screen Resolution Too Large
Extra Geeky Problem and Great Help from Peers: SQL OLAP Cubes
Need an Easier Way to Create those Users
IT Pro Bhim introduces his question by using the succinct Subject of: "User Creation???". Fortunately, Bhim gives us a little more detail about what is needed – just enough to get us on the right track - hopefully. Bhim's complete question:
Q. How to create Windows NT users from command prompt/scripts?
Thanks.
Fellow IT Pro Kjetil suggests that if Bhim is open to using a GUI-program as an alternative, try User Manager Assistant.
A. User Manager Assistant creates users based on a text-file containing only the full name of the user(s). Here is a list of the functions that User Manager Assistant can perform:
Creates the user
Assigns a password
Make the user a member of a given group
Assigns a logon script
Assigns a profile directory
Creates a directory for the profile, and copies a profile-template
Creates a private share for the user
More information on this can be found at https://uma.enternett.no.
IT Pro Mr. Bill Nitz replies to Bhim's efficient question with his own terse, but very helpful suggestion:
A. "addusers.exe" from the Resource Kit.
Thanks Bill! No wasted bits there. Just straight to the often-referred to Windows NT Resource Kit.
Now, for those that might not be familiar with the ADDUSERS utility found in the Windows NT Server Resource kit, here just a bit more detail, borrowed from the description information in the Resource Kit:
This 32-bit administrative tool uses a comma-delimited file to create, write, and delete user accounts. The easiest way to maintain such files is in a spreadsheet, such as Microsoft Excel, that can work with comma-delimited files.
The format for the comma-delimited file requires headings for users [User], global groups [Global], and local groups [Local]. Before you use the /c option to create user accounts, it is recommended that you first execute AddUsers with the /d switch, the dump accounts option, which writes the headings, user accounts, local groups, and global groups to a file. Viewing this file gives a clearer picture of the structure and headings of the comma-delimited file.
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the target computer to add accounts and a member of the Users group to write accounts.
AddUsers is 100 percent Unicode. The switch /p:, followed by l, c, e, d, or any combination of the four enables you to specify the four account-creation options available in User Manager: UserMustChangePasswordAtNextLogon, UserCannotChangePassword, PasswordNeverExpires, and AccountDisabled.
Specifics on the NT 4.0 Server Resource kit can be obtained from Fatbrain.com.
That User Manager Assistant program suggested by Kjetil sounds pretty cool! In searching for similar utilities, I came across one that sounded interesting: "OnePoint Operations Manager" from MissionCritical Software. Check it out at https://www.missioncritical.com/product/EntEvtAd.htm
There's one particular place that I frequently refer IT Pros to that are in need of utilities to help manage their Windows NT networks, and that is Beverly Hills Software's website, located at https://www.bhs.com. BHS has an extensive "32 Bit Download Center" containing all kinds of software, ranging from shareware to full "regular" products.
So, in this case, to see what is available for managing users and user accounts, etc., go to BHS's 32-bit download website and navigate down the directory tree on the left side of the screen, starting at "Administrator Tools" folder, to "User Admin". One particular utility that looks interesting is "User Manager Pro". Check that out, along with the other utilities in this category.
I'm sure we all would be interested in hearing about other IT Pros' experiences with utilities for managing user accounts. If you have some feedback that you would like to share, please – send it on in!
A Question results in Only More Questions – VPN Name Resolution Problems
IT Pro Cory is having difficulties getting validated. His question:
Q. I have a VPN connection setup on a Windows NT 4.0 box with Win 95 (DUN1.3 and VPN Upgrade installed) as a workstation. I dial to an ISP with the workstation and then from there, attempt to make a PPTP connection to the server. I can get connected to the server to the point where RAS recognizes that I am logged on, but when I get the logon to the server, I get an error "No domain server available to validate your password..." The only work around I have found for this is to add NetBEUI to both the server and workstation. Any ideas how I can connect just using TCP/IP? I have WINS on the server, and to my best knowledge it is working. It appears to be a name resolution issue.
Cory R.
To this, overly frequent newsgroup contributor par-excellence John R. Buchan has these questions for Cory:
A. Once the VPN connection is established,
Can your dial up client ping the IP of WINS server?
Can you client connect to a share on the WINS server, using it's IP (e.g. \\192.168.1.1\data)?
Does 'ipconfig -all' on the client show that it is using the appropriate WINS server and that the node type is something other than broadcast?
Is the dialup server configured to route IPs or do proxy ARP? In other words, is the dial up subnet the same as the server's LAN subnet? If so, is the server configured to "Allow access to entire network" for TCP/IP? If not, is the server configured to forward IPs and do the LAN machines have a route back to the dial up subnet?
Mr. Buchan asks a lot of excellent questions, and those questions should give other IT Pros that may find themselves in a similar predicament something to think about. Now, if we could only bring this issue full-circle with a reply from Cory, then everyone can rest easy knowing what the actual resolution was. C'mon, Cory! It's been over a week since John's reply – we're all waiting to find out!
And my contribution would be to take a look at the information on TechNet's "Networking & RAS – Remote Access" web page.
One paper that can be accessed from the Networking & RAS webpage is one that is pretty in-depth and is written for network engineers and support professionals who are already familiar with TCP/IP, IP routing, IPX routing, and wide area network technology. It's called "Remote Access Server". Lot's of great information in there on just how all this works.
Screen Resolution Too Large
This next question is not so much a complex technological conundrum, but it does remind us that as IT Pros, it is good to remember that one of the reasons that we have a good job is to help make all this technology usable for our customers – whether they are the end-user within our company or one person "out there" on the Internet. Also, it doesn't hurt to remember that every IT Pro sat down at a computer console for the very first time – even Herman Hollerith (even though Herman didn't have one to sit down to – he had to make his.) Here's Doug's question, and Peter's helpful response as posted in the Site Server newsgroup:
Q. I just bought a jumbo size Mitsubishi 22" monitor and I was hoping to be able to see more words on the screen, but now it seems that everything is just jumbo size like a little kid's crayon... not what I had in mind.
How can I make the characters appear the same as they did on my 15" monitor so that I will net more words and images per screenshot as I had hoped for?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much.
Doug
Response
A. Right click on a blank area on the desktop, choose Properties, then Settings tab, change resolution to 1024x768 or higher.
Extra Geeky Problem and Great Help from Peers: SQL OLAP Cubes
Here we visit an area that is sometimes bewildering to some IT Pros. There are many, though, that find SQL Server's multi-dimensional data analysis capabilities just way too cool. Although the following discussion may be of interest to a relatively small band of dimensional database-heads, I think that it does provide some interesting insight about how these types go about figuring out what the heck is going on. Peers helping peers – that's what it's about!
What say we include a short acronym translator?
OLAP – OnLine Analytical Processing
DTS – Data Transformation Services
EM – Enterprise Manager
SP2 – SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack 2, of course
OK, now that we know what all those acronyms stand for, let's start at, where else – the beginning. Here is IT Pro Todd's question of the day:
Q. Has anyone been able to incrementally update a cube using a DTS package?
I'm using the "OLAP Services Processing Task" add-in. I have no problem using it to do a full "process" or "refresh data," but whenever I try an "incremental update" I get the following error:
Package Error
Error Source : Microsoft Data Transformation Services (DTS) Package
Error Description : Provider generated code execution exception:
EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION
I've tried this on different cubes and on different servers with the same result. I'm running Windows NT4 Server SP5, SQL 7.0 (SP2), OLAP Services (SP2). I've also tried experimenting with different filters (including none at all), but that doesn't seem to make any difference. I am able to incrementally update the cube manually through OLAP Manager. I'm simply trying to execute the DTS package manually through EM. All accounts involved should have full system administrator privileges.
Anyone have any ideas about what might be wrong here?
Todd
Sean Boon, MCSD at Rainier Technology asks Todd:
Are you setting the filter clause in the task? We had a similar problem when we tried to use an ActiveX script task in a separate step to set the properties of the OLAP processing task. We got around it by placing the code to change the OLAP processing task in the OLAP Processing task itself.
Todd looking for some clarification asksU
When you say "placing the code ... in the OLAP Processing task itself" do you mean setting the filter property of the task? If so then yes that is what I'm doing; my package only has the one step.
But does that mean that you cannot dynamically change the filter for the task? (I will need to do that eventually.) Or do you pull some criteria from another table in the filter? Thanks for the input, Todd
Okay, I think I have found the answer. I suppose this will teach me to not ignore readme files.
OLAP Services SP2 comes with new versions of the AddIns.exe and DTSTasks.exe! They can be found in the Install directory of the service pack. Once I installed these everything worked fine (although I did have to recreate one DTS package from scratch).
You can find the documentation about this in the readme file (which I know you've all read).
https://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=254555
Read sections 5.9.1 and 3.7
Installing the latest version of the OLAP DTS Task solved the problem that I was having regarding not being able to use a DTS task to incrementally update a cube at all. However, the problem that Sean was having of not being able to use an ActiveX script in another step is still an issue. I am now having the same problem. The task works fine if the properties are set manually or if the ActiveX script is in the OLAP task itself, but it doesn't work if it is in another step (task). The ActiveX script step fails with the same EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION message.
To address the remaining issue of not being able to use an ActiveX script in another step, IT Pro Darren Green pipes up with the following gem:
Try setting the Execute on Main Package Thread property to "on" for this Task. (Workflow - Properties - Options.)
And lastly, we have closure. Todd is kind enough to post a quick reply to let everyone know that Darren's suggestion fixed that last problem. It's good to do that (provide a comment), so that we all know that everyone was on the right track. We can all sleep better tonight. Although Todd may be trying to perform some tricky maneuver by trying to punish himself, he is nonetheless very grateful for all the help from Darren and Sean:
Okay, I'm kicking myself! That fixed it. I had set that property for the OLAP task, but I had neglected to do it for the ActiveX step. Thanks a million.